Hey, writers. First off, I want to say that there will be no spoilers in this article. Second, Black Panther received a lot of hype, but did it deserve it?
Hit the jump, writers, and let’s discuss.
Before the second weekend of its release, Black Panther has grossed $491.30 million USD. That’s a lot of money.
Again, in this review I won’t be spoiling anything but I will be referencing things seen on the movie poster and/or trailer.
The movie Black Panther takes place after Captain America: Civil War. It follows the main character, T’Challa, as he experiences being king of Wakanda as well as being the enhanced warrior, Black Panther. Like all of the other superhero movies, it is filled with action and is quite a fun ride.
There’s solid hand-to-hand combat (for instance, the part where Chadwick Boseman is shirtless in the trailer). Also, that part with the car chase scene where the Black Panther does the flip? Simply gorgeous.
Ladies in Red
In the trailer, there’s shots of a woman/women in red. They look fierce in the trailer and they are absolutely fierce in the movie. For me, I tried to not watch the trailer too much (though I did listen to it repeatedly, more on that later), so I wouldn’t get spoiled too much on certain scenes. I did manage to miss something cool though. So here’s a fun fact that I learned only after the movie: one of those women in red? That’s Michonne from The Walking Dead. Yes, when Danai Gurira isn’t wielding a sword and slicing up zombies, she’s in a Marvel movie. Very cool.
I’ve already seen coverage about the women of Black Panther, and when I watch this movie again, they’ll be a big reason for it.
Also, this isn’t technically a lady in red but it still applies here. There’s a scene in Captain America: Civil War where Black Widow / Scarlett Johansson needs to speak to Black Panther. Black Panther is walking towards his car and and he has an escort. It is a lady wearing black, but I’m pretty sure that’s one of the red-armor women in Black Panther the movie. Anyway. This exchange happens.
Woman in black (to Scarlett Johansson): Move or you will be moved.
Black Panther: As entertaining as that would be…
I kept thinking about that scene when I saw the women in red fighting. Yes, Mr. Boseman…it would be fun. Haha.
Can’t Get You Out of My Head
Something else I wanted to address comes directly from the trailer. That song in “Black Panther Teaser Trailer #1 (2018)” that has that sick beat? I’ve played that trailer more than once, just to hear the music. It just sounds so good. Well, that song doesn’t actually appear in the movie. (I posted it at the end if you’re curious about the full song.)
I know a song in a trailer doesn’t mean much for most people, but I can say that the first time I heard that beat drop on the trailer for the movie made me want to watch Black Panther about 50x more. (I’m playing it right now in another window so I can hear it again.)
Don’t listen to the actual song though, that’s kind of saddening…>.>
Now that I’ve seen the movie, I guess I won’t listen to it too much more. And maybe you shouldn’t either. Well, maybe once more for old time’s sake:
If you listen to it with zero visuals, the music pops even more. *nods head to the music* Yup, still ridiculous.
I’m just sad it wasn’t in the movie.
In Them Thar Hills
So I had to ask myself why I really liked this movie. If I am honest, I am very aware of how I am experiencing something I call “Superhero Fatigue.” Funnily enough, no one I’ve asked about this has agreed with me. I guess my friends are still enjoying the ride.
Here’s the thing, I’m that guy who reads comics (more before, but still some now). I like Marvel and I like DC. These movies are made for a guy like me…and I have to say that I was definitely getting weary of the various superhero movies. My plan was “Possibly Black Panther, then definitely Avengers Infinity War…and maybe I’ll just stop.”
Let’s review the various movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a second.
(1) Iron Man (2) The Incredible Hulk (3) Iron Man 2 (4) Thor (5) Captain America: The First Avenger (6) Marvel's The Avengers ----- (7) Iron Man 3 (8) Thor: The Dark World (9) Captain America: The Winter Soldier (10) Guardians of the Galaxy (11) Avengers: Age of Ultron (12) Ant-Man ----- (13) Captain America: Civil War (14) Doctor Strange (15) Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 (16) Spider-Man Homecoming (17) Thor: Ragnarok (18) Black Panther (19) --> Avengers: Infinity War (20) --> Ant-Man and the Wasp
For the record, I didn’t enjoy the first Thor movie to the point that I told my friends to just spoil Thor 2 for me. On top of that, I didn’t care at all that Thor 3 was coming. Until, that is, that I learned that the Hulk was going to be in it. So I figured: Why not?
Well, I didn’t enjoy Thor 3. So yeah, Superhero Fatigue.
The funny thing is, I read an article a long time ago about superhero movies. The article warned that one day the public would “get tired” of superhero movies. Here’s the thing…that article came out before Thor 1. It took me much longer to experience any kind of ‘fatigue’ but it was definitely there. And this is just the Marvel movies. There’s non-Marvel movies (I enjoyed numerous DC movies). There’s the non-movies. I really enjoyed the show Daredevil (let’s not talk about Iron Fist).
So why am I mentioning all this? Well, it’s important that you understand where I’m coming from, writers. I was quite fatigued and I already had no interest in Ant-Man and Wasp. I’m probably going to watch it more out of my completionist tendencies than wanting to see the characters…but…whatever. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Now, having said all that? I enjoyed Black Panther. But again, the question is “Why?” At first I asked myself what Black Panther had that I enjoyed and it was a lot of the stuff that you would expect. So then I asked…”What does Black Panther not have?”
Less is More
All of the Marvel movies started to blend together for me–in a bad way. There’s a flavor to them and I think that’s partially why I gravitated to the DC movies so much.
I laughed while I watched Black Panther, don’t get me wrong, but it had a different flavor than the other Marvel movies.
For instance. There is no Scott Baio tattoo. There is no giant Hello Kitty Pez dispenser. There isn’t any of that and I really enjoyed the movie. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that stuff. If you like it, then you like it. I, however, was starting to get my fill.
But seriously, giant Pez dispenser? Really? Oh well.
Chrysalis
Alright, writers, Black Panther got me thinking on another level. Say you were to write up a cool, new tech idea. Well, if you were writing for Marvel there’s a good chance that that idea would go straight to Tony Stark / Iron Man / Robert Downey, Jr. Now at this point in time I don’t believe there will be an Iron Man 4 or an Iron Man 5 (whoa, just got a whiff of Superhero Fatigue again), so in theory cool tech ideas would have no home.
Unless, of course, the cool, new tech gets repurposed for the Black Panther. So without spoiling anything, let’s talk about theoretical tech that Iron Man could have gotten but would be repurposed for Black Panther.
This isn’t just an exercise by the way, I’ve had to repurpose things for stories before. But anyway, let’s begin.
- In the comics, I’m pretty sure that Iron Man has some space armor. Imagine T’Challa in space.
- Rocket boots don’t really seem to fit Black Panther’s style but…hm…but a variation on repulsor technology? Definitely. I’ve always admired how Iron Man wouldn’t have to carry around traditional bullets because everything was energy-based.
- Not every option has to be violent…so…maybe an EMP.
- A water-based suit could come in handy. Think about it. Black Panther’s suit is already sleek, so the look would fit him perfectly.
Hm…but cats hate water….Haha.
Well, what do you think, writers? Did you enjoy the movie? Or did you have better ideas on how tech could be repurposed?
Sound off in the comments and let me know!
Aloha,
Alvin
P.S. In case you were wondering, the song that I enjoyed in the trailer is Run The Jewels – Legend Has It (Official Music Video From RTJ3 & Black Panther). Again, not as cool as in the trailer, but I figured some of you would be wondering.